Dynamic Routing Weights for Industrial Wireless Network Reliability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current industrial wireless networks face challenges in ensuring high reliability and low latency, as existing routing algorithms like source and graph routing are inadequate in maintaining communication paths during network topology changes, leading to potential economic losses and safety issues.
Innovation Solution
A method and device for determining communication paths in industrial wireless networks, where a network manager device sends a network investigating message with a message weight, which is processed by nodes to update their weights and hop numbers, allowing for dynamic adjustment of communication paths and scheduling without requiring a routing table for all nodes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If source routing is used to establish fixed paths, then routing simplicity is improved, but communication reliability deteriorates when nodes or links fail
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic routing where the network manager continuously updates routing information and paths based on current network topology and node weights, allowing the system to adapt to failures and changes rather than relying on fixed static paths
Solution Approach 2:
The network manager receives feedback about network conditions and node weights, uses this information to determine optimal paths, and sends updated routing information back to nodes, creating a closed-loop control system that maintains reliability through continuous monitoring and adjustment
2Reliability
If graph routing is used to provide additional paths, then communication reliability is improved, but routing complexity and response time to topology changes worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The network manager acts as an intermediary that centralizes the complex task of maintaining multiple paths and routing information, relieving individual nodes of the burden of managing complex routing tables while still providing redundant paths through the weight-based routing mechanism
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses node weights as dynamic parameters that encode routing information, allowing the network to represent complex multi-path topology through simple weight values that nodes can process without requiring complex routing tables
3Reliability
If graph routing is used to provide alternative paths, then communication reliability is improved, but latency increases during graph adjusting periods
Solution Approach 1:
The network manager proactively updates routing information and node weights before topology changes fully impact communication, allowing nodes to prepare alternative paths in advance rather than reacting to failures, thus reducing latency during transitions
4Ease of operation
If fixed time interval allocation is used for TDMA, then resource management simplicity is improved, but adaptability to network changes deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic time interval allocation where the network manager adjusts TDMA parameters and time slots based on current network topology and node weights, allowing the system to maintain simple fixed-slot operation while adapting to changes through centralized reconfiguration
Data Source
AI summary
A network manager device in an industrial wireless network sends a network investigating message to other network nodes for processing and forwarding through the network, the message including a message weight. A wireless communication device providing a node in the network receives the message from another network node, determines a communication weight based on the quality of communication, adds the communication weight to the message weight and compares the sum with the node weight. If the sum is lower than the node weight, it is set as new node weight and as new message weight, whereupon the changed message is sent to other nodes in the network. The network manager device maps the topology of the network based on updated node weights, sets a communication scheduling scheme based on the mapped topology and informs the network nodes of the scheme.